Hollywood Forever's new ‘vertical mausoleum’ is the tallest in the US
The Gower Mausoleum is not only an innovative solution for housing the deceased in a crowded urban centre; it is also reframing the way that we view cemeteries

In dense urban environments, space can become an issue, and architects are constantly looking for innovative ways to work around the city. Bleak though it is, space, or lack thereof, poses a particular problem for cemeteries.
This problem was recently put to Los Angeles firms Lehrer Architects and Arquitectura y Diseno, which were tasked with creating a mausoleum for the legendary Hollywood Forever Cemetery in LA. Their solution? Build upwards.
The Gower Mausoleum, which has just finished its first phase of construction, is the tallest mausoleum in the US. The towering structure will provide housing for 50,000 deceased in 22,500 crypt spaces and 30,000 niches for ashes, extending the cemetery's life by 50 years. Standing at 100 feet tall, the concrete monument features open breezeways and a stepped-garden street front.
Its vertical structure demonstrates an innovative approach to save ground-floor real estate in an industry that traditionally requires so much surface area. But, as an LA landmark, situated just south of Paramount Studio and on an axis with the Hollywood sign, the Gower Mausoleum is also a cultural and spiritual beacon that honours the dead, as well as their visitors and, by extension, the entire Hollywood community.
Design for the mausoleum began in 2013, with the teams involved taking inspiration from Pop Artists such as Donald Judd, Carl Andre and Andy Warhol, specifically his Brillo Box sculptures. Influences from the sculptures of Eduardo Chillida, as well as the ziggurats and mastaba from Mexico and ancient Persia, can also be felt.
The Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a 53-acre landmark originally designed by the landscape architect Joseph Earnshaw (1831-1906), opened to the public in 1899 as the Hollywood Cemetery. It is a prime example of early-19th-century cemetery planning, eschewing fencing and barriers for open views, bucolic landscapes and pathways for strolling and contemplation. It is the final resting place of legends like Rudolph Valentino, Cecil B. DeMille, Judy Garland, Johnny Ramone and Chris Cornell.
Since narrowly averting closure in 1998, the Hollywood Forever Cemetery is now a cultural hub of remembrance, hosting outdoor film screenings, events at the Masonic Lodge, and concerts on the Fairbanks Lawn, as well as the annual Día de los Muertos celebration.
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Through architecture, the Gower Mausoleum is reevaluating how we view cemeteries. It is not a place of mourning but of celebration, filled with natural light and fresh air and with panoramic vistas of LA and beyond. It’s a sad fact that graves usually stop receiving visitors after a few years – this new landmark will ensure Angelenos visit its inhabitants for decades to come.
lehrerarchitects.com
arq-y-di.com
Anna Solomon is Wallpaper’s digital staff writer, working across all of Wallpaper.com’s core pillars, with special interests in interiors and fashion. Before joining the team in 2025, she was senior editor at Luxury London Magazine and Luxurylondon.co.uk, where she wrote about all things lifestyle and interviewed tastemakers such as Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors, Priya Ahluwalia, Zandra Rhodes and Ellen von Unwerth.
-
‘Never copy the past’: how Nicolas Di Felice is taking Courrèges into the future
At Courrèges, artistic director Nicolas Di Felice is marrying radical thinking, raving and reinterpreted minimalist codes to give the French fashion house a new dynamism. Hannah Tindle heads to Paris to meet the designer
-
Out of office: the Wallpaper* editors’ picks of the week
Another week, another flurry of events, opening and excursions showcasing the best of culture and entertainment at home and abroad. Catch our editors at Scandi festivals, iconic jazz clubs, and running the length of Manhattan…
-
The Stuff That Surrounds, episode three: Inside the home of architect Glenn Sestig
In The Stuff That Surrounds, Wallpaper* explores a life through objects. This episode, we’re invited inside an architectural gem – just what you'd expect from one of the most distinctive voices in the field today
-
The Monthly Architecture Edit: Wallpaper’s favourite July houses
From geometric Japanese cottages to restored modernist masterpieces, these are the best residential projects to have crossed the architecture desk this month
-
A dynamic Mar Vista house plays with the rhythm of indoor and outdoor living
A new Mar Vista house, designed by Mexican architecture studio PPAA, combines a façade with a whisper of brutalism, and a breezy, open interior, seamlessly connected to its Los Angeles setting
-
Welcome to How House, a revived Rudolph Schindler gem in Los Angeles
The latest owner of How House, an early Rudolph Schindler gem, is taking a contemporary approach to conserving its heritage
-
George Lucas’ otherworldly Los Angeles museum is almost finished. Here’s a sneak peek
Architect Ma Yansong walks us through the design of the $1 billion Lucas Museum of Narrative Art, set to open early next year
-
The great American museum boom
Nine of the world’s top ten most expensive, recently announced cultural projects are in the US. What is driving this investment, and is this statistic sustainable?
-
Is embracing nature the key to a more fire-resilient Los Angeles? These landscape architects think so
For some, an executive order issued by California governor Gavin Newsom does little to address the complexities of living within an urban-wildland interface
-
A Laurel Canyon house shows off its midcentury architecture bones
We step inside a refreshed modernist Laurel Canyon house, the family home of Annie Ritz and Daniel Rabin of And And And Studio
-
PlayLab opens its Los Angeles base, blending workspace, library and shop in a new interior
Creative studio PlayLab opens its Los Angeles workspace and reveals plans to also open its archive to the public for the first time, revealing a dedicated space full of pop treasures